Brandon
Introduction
I come from Spanish-speaking parents – one from Mexico, and the other from Guatemala. Initially, Spanish was the language we HAD to know, otherwise, how would we communicate with our parents? But as I entered my 2nd year of elementary school, they realized that we would have to learn the language of the country in which we were born, English. So, when it came to learning another language in high school, French became my third option. The only inclination to make this choice was my older brother – I saw it as another means to communicate with him since he had learned it before me.
After my brother had done his 2 years of French, he dropped it. He had forgotten most of what he had learned, so I chose to stick with French, which was out of my own choice. French was similar to Spanish, so I didn’t see much of a difference in learning it. It made me feel connected to my roots in an odd sense. My mother always told me we had some French roots, so I took it. As I continued in my French classes, I was encouraged by my professors that I was a natural. My teacher questioned if I had some French cultural background due to how well I was pronouncing amid being in beginning classes. So with this, I told myself, “Why not? Where’s the harm in learning something new, learning a new language?” With that, I ended up taking French for 2 years in high school and was then able to take French 104 because of my credits continued with advanced courses in French.
Thinking back to when I first started French back in high school, I was under a program called IBCP, which combined IB courses with our career-based classes. There were around 15 students for the same 2 years, and throughout those 2 years, we ended up building a community. We felt comfortable with each other in French class, and because I had more knowledge of French than everyone else, they would look up to me for help. Even when my confidence in French was low, my classmates always trusted in my knowledge of French. From that point forward, I was confident that I would be able to learn French entirely in the future. This made me like learning French because I knew that it was something I would enjoy doing.
I hope learning French eventually connects with my Criminology career, where translation comes into play like when working with French-speaking people from Francophone countries. If not, then it's always just something good to have for personal reasons like traveling. I’ve always been fascinated by French culture and its history, so ever since I found out my brother was taking French in high school, I decided I’d travel to France in the near future just to see how life is there.